Chinatown Show and Tell: Summer Sightlines Saturday Feature Program
Saturday, July 26, 2025, 4 – 6 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Historically, Chinatowns have served as vibrant hubs of culture, entrepreneurship, and community. However, the landscape of these historic neighborhoods has changed drastically to adapt to displacement, rising cost of living, and current community needs. Featured speakers will bring an object to share a story about their personal connections to and their current work in East Coast Chinatown neighborhoods.
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DC Martial Arts History Showdown: Summer Sightlines Saturday Feature Program
Saturday, July 12, 2025, 4 – 6 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Since the 1960s, Washington, DC has been home to a powerful network of disciplines, communities, and practitioners of Asian martial arts. Join us for a lively series of rounds where local competitors go head-to-head, sparring with their stories, in a respectful battle over DC Asian martial arts history!
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Sightlines Saturday Guided Tour and Activity: Paint, Punk, and Pins
Saturday, July 12, 2025, 12 – 3 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, Sightlines Gallery
Join us for our monthly in-gallery program for Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond, an exhibition showcasing the contributions of Asian Americans to Washington, DC. Participants will enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition at noon, followed by a drop-in activity from 1-3 p.m., designing their own pins inspired by artist MISS CHELOVE (aka Cita Sadeli)’s experiences in DC's punk, ska, and hip-hop scenes.
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Sightlines Saturday Feature Program: 50 Years of Southeast Asian American Journeys
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 3:45 – 6 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
The year 2025 marks 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, the Secret War in Laos, and the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1975--events that displaced millions from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Seeking refuge in the U.S., these communities rebuilt their lives and, over five decades, have made enduring contributions to American society, embodying resilience, perseverance, and cultural vibrancy. Organized by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center with several Southeast Asian American community organizations, this program features screenings of short films and selected excerpts from longer works, followed by an intergenerational panel discussion with community leaders, filmmakers, and artists.
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Sightlines Saturday Guided Tour and Activity: Making Place, Making Space
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 12 – 3 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, Sightlines Gallery
Join us for our monthly in-gallery program for Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond, an exhibition showcasing the contributions of Asian Americans to Washington, DC. Participants will enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition at noon, followed by a drop-in activity from 1-3 p.m., creating a personal artwork inspired by maps and monuments and related to the exhibition's "Making Place" theme on Chinatown.
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Sightlines Saturday Feature Panel: Across the Ages: Intergenerational Community Leadership
Saturday, April 12, 2025, 4 – 6 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
For decades, Washington, D.C., has been a hub for Asian American leadership at the local, national, and global levels. This event highlights the stories of organizers who have shaped and continue to shape their communities in different ways. Speakers will share their journeys as leaders, explore how leadership and advocacy have evolved across generations, and demonstrate the many forms of leadership--through neighborhood organizing, labor rights advocacy, and elected office.
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Sightlines Saturday Guided Tour and Activity: Community Connections
Saturday, April 12, 2025, 12 – 3 p.m. EDT
American Art Museum, Sightlines Gallery
Join us for our monthly in-gallery program for Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond, an exhibition showcasing the contributions of Asian Americans to Washington, DC. Participants will enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition at noon, followed by a drop-in activity from 1-3 p.m., creating a personal artwork on intergenerational connections related to the exhibition's "Transforming Tradition" theme on martial arts.
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Sightlines Saturday Feature Program: MISS CHELOVE: From Java to the Streets of D.C. Screening + Conversation
Saturday, March 8, 2025, 4 – 6 p.m. EST
American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
In celebration of International Women’s Day, this month's feature program includes a film screening of MISS CHELOVE: From Java to the Streets of D.C., followed by a conversation with MISS CHELOVE (aka Cita Sadeli) and filmmaker Sara T. Gama. Moderated by Mia Owens, Sightlines curatorial and programming assistant, this intimate dialogue will offer insight into the artists' unique practices and shared commitment to celebrating resilience and representation through their art.
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Sightlines Saturday Guided Tour and Activity: Tag, You're It!
Saturday, March 8, 2025, 12 – 3 p.m. EST
American Art Museum, Sightlines Gallery
Join us for our monthly in-gallery program for Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond, an exhibition showcasing the contributions of Asian Americans to Washington, DC. Participants will enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition at noon, followed by a drop-in activity from 1-3 p.m., creating their very own graffiti tags just like those by featured artist MISS CHELOVE (aka Cita Sadeli).
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Sightlines Saturday Dance Performance: Seeds of Toil: Three Asian American Stories of Resistance and Resilience
Saturday, February 8, 2025, 4 – 6 p.m. EST
American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Join the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) at SAAM for Seeds of Toil: Three Asian American Stories of Resistance and Resilience, a dance performance by the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company that tells the stories of Koreans working on Hawaiian pineapple plantations in the early twentieth century, Japanese Americans unjustly incarcerated during World War II, and the solidarity between Filipino and Mexican farmworkers in 1960s California. The performance is presented as part of programing for APAC’s exhibition Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond.
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Sightlines Saturday Guided Tour and Activity: Love Letters
Saturday, February 8, 2025, 12 – 3 p.m. EST
American Art Museum, <em>Sightlines</em> Gallery
Join the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) at SAAM for Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond, an exhibition showcasing the contributions of Asian Americans to Washington, DC. Participants enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition at noon, followed by a drop-in activity from 1-3 p.m. exploring local murals and creating their own love letters to their communities.
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